Nets star Joe Johnson named conference player of the week

Nets star Joe Johnson named conference player of the week

Joe Johnson. AP photo

From Brooklyn Nets

The National Basketball Association announced today that Brooklyn Nets guard Joe Johnson has been named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played Monday, Mar. 17 through Sunday, Mar. 23. It marks the first time this season a Nets player has captured the honor.

This is the seventh NBA Player of the Week honor of Johnson’s career and his first as a member of the Nets. He previously earned the distinction six times as a member of the Atlanta Hawks, most recently for the week of Mar. 19-25, 2012.

Johnson helped the Nets to the Eastern Conference’s only 4-0 week behind averages of 22.0 points on 54.1% shooting (58.3% from three-point range), 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in 32.5 minutes per game.

The All-Star guard scored 19 points (7-11 shooting) in 29 minutes in a 108-95 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Mar. 17. Two nights later, Johnson scored 20 points and grabbed a season-high eight rebounds in a 104-99 win over the Charlotte Bobcats. Johnson scored a game-high 27 points (10-16 shooting, 6-8 from three-point range) in 30 minutes in a 114-98 victory over the Boston Celtics Mar. 21. Johnson completed his week by scoring a team-high 22 points (18 of which came in the second half and overtime) in a 107-104 victory over the Dallas Mavericks Mar. 23. In the Dallas game, Johnson recorded his fourth game-winning or tying basket with under one minute to go in a game this season when he converted a driving layup with 9.9 seconds left to send the game to overtime.

In addition to helping the Nets to four straight victories, marking the second-longest active winning streak in the NBA, trailing only San Antonio’s 13 straight victories, Johnson has also helped the Nets to a season-best 11 straight home victories and an Eastern Conference-best 27-10 record since Jan. 1.

Johnson is the first Nets player to capture the award since Devin Harris for the week of Feb. 23-Mar. 1, 2009.